Linkedin is a fantastic social media platform and a great tool for job seekers, but many people miss the best way to utlise the tools and services it has to offer for lack of understanding on how to best use the network or maximise the opportunities available.
Use the Premium Trial
LinkedIn is of course free to use but there are options for a Premium account, ideal for job seekers, sales and talent professionals, as well as the general professional who wants to get more out of LinkedIn. You can try it for free too!
However, don’t forget to cancel before the trial ends if you don’t wish to commit for a longer term.
Revisit regularly
It can only take up 10 minutes of your day, but it’s important to revisit your profile regularly and post where applicable. It’s unlikely you’d hand your CV out without checking it over, so treat your LinkedIn the same. Have you recently won an award, launched a product, created a website, run a campaign, or been featured in an article? Make sure you include it in a post, tagging any relevant Connections and using hashtags to get your content noticed in search. This demonstrates your experience in your field, as potential employers may well check out your past Linkedin posts.
Headlines matter!
Take a look through your profile – your LinkedIn headline is crucial for a first impression. People see it when they conduct a search and can highlight exactly who you are, what you do, or what you’re looking for. What used to be a statement about your current role is now a fantastic opportunity to be creative! If you’re looking for an opportunity, share it here. For example, ‘IT Procurement Manager Looking For A Challenge’.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is a fantastic online platform for building your skills and profile! Not only do they offer a heap of videos, tools and helpful information to expand your skill set and knowledge, it’s personalised to you. Pick the skills you’d like to develop and you’re good to go!
Request a recommendation
Forget asking for a reference or waiting for an employer to produce one, you can easily ask employers, colleagues or business connections to write a brief paragraph on you, your work or how you’ve done business together, to publicly share on your LinkedIn. It’s neat, simple, and can really boost your profile. It takes minutes to do and what’s nice, is you can take the time to offer the same for them too.
